New Vegas: It's good to be King
by NoNameForOldFish
Summary: *major spoilers for the Wild Card Ending of Fallout: New Vegas*   The Courier now rules his own city-state. Now all that's left to do is find a second-in-command. An experiment with present tense and all around lighthearted continuation of Fallout:NV.


It is good to be king.

Of course, the Courier couldn't technically call himself "king." Apparently The King over in Freeside had inherited a copyright on the name. Why, there aren't enough Securitrons in the Mojave to serve as a proper standing army for any king.

With the Legion routed, the NCR in the process of withdrawal, and Mister House disabled, the Courier had stepped up to the challenge, operating out of the Lucky 38.

The Securitrons keep order on the Strip. Out in the desert, order is maintained by his various allied factions. The Kings help out in Freeside. The Boomers are rising to prominence in the northeast. With the Great Khans gone to the north and the Powder Gangers done for, the new nation of Mojave was secure in an arc that ran from Goodsprings all the way over to Novac.

The only loose end was the Brotherhood of Steel. Turns out that régime change the Courier pulled off down in their bunker may have been a bad thing. They are attacking people on the roads around Goodsprings. The good news: they are taking out the Deathclaws and Super Mutants in the area. The bad news: they're also taking out caravans. Cass is going to hate that.

The Brotherhood's newfound aggression brings the Courier to his first task of the day.

The Courier thumbs a button on his new presidential chair. This button activates an intercom leading from the penthouse floor to the presidential suite.

"Veronica, come on up here for a minute. We need to talk." the Courier says.

"Hold on, I'm getting packed!" Veronica responds.

"I'll only take a few seconds of your time. It's kind of urgent."

Veronica activates the intercom, but does not respond at first. Instead, she sighs loud enough for the Courier to hear it. "Alright, I'm coming."

The Courier whiles away the short time it takes Veronica to take the elevator up to the top floor. He's got two Securitron bodyguards for company, not that he needs the extra firepower now that he's got customized variants of every weapon known to man displayed on the penthouse floor.

The elevator opens and Veronica steps out. She's replaced her robes with Brotherhood power armor. She keeps her hair-concealing shall on at all times, though. It must be some kind of Brotherhood rule.

"'Sup, Anton?"

"Veronica!" the Courier says. "I need a second in command, how about you stay here for awhile, help me with these goddamn robots? C'mon, I'm not that scientifically inclined, here."

"I've told you before. I can't stay here. 'Sides, you've already got a second in command."

"The Yes Man? Yeah, he's reprogramming himself to become more 'assertive.' Have you ever _seen_ one of the old vids? Even odds say he immediately decides to go all kill crush and destroy on the Strip. You're the only person I've got who can deprogram these things."

"Sorry, Anton. I've made my decision. Helping to make a new country would look good on a resume, but who knows when the Brotherhood might come after me again?"

"Well, I won't try to stop you." The Courier says. "… but stay away from New Reno! Really, the place is a death trap. I wish someone would go rig Bishop's safe!"

"I'll be heading east, not into Arizona, of course. I've just got to stay away from the Brotherhood and the NCR."

It was funny. The Courier had taken over Mojave through smooth talking and guile. Even so, he never could hold that same sway over his own traveling companions.

Lily was needed back in Jacobsville. Boone had run off with the rest of the NCR. Cass was still around, drunk in the Cocktail Lounge. Still, it was getting a little quiet around here.

The Courier remains silent until long after Veronica had returned to the elevators. She's probably on the Casino floor by now. Anton has one last question to ask of her. He turns towards the comms.

"Hey, Veronica. I have an idea!"

"Oh, what now?"

"You never did tell me your girlfriend's name. I was thinking, maybe, we could put a watch out for her and that Elder Elijah fellow. If we find either of them, I'll send a 'bot out to find you. It'll be a regular family reunion."

"Thanks, Ant. I don't think you'll have any luck, though."

"Just tell me her name, Veronica!"

"It was Sam, alright. Can I go now?"

The Courier says one last good-bye, and allows Veronica to leave. He thumbs the intercom once more, this time calling up the Cocktail Lounge.

"Cass, get up here and marry me!" he says.

Rose of Sharon Cassidy lets out a flat "what." that is obviously slurred from bottles upon bottles of whiskey. "I'm only on bottle twelve. I'll need a few more beers before we can start talking like that."

Curses! Anton's natural skill with the ladies is useless when he's not face-to-face with them.

"Well, at least be my second in command!" Anton cries. "I'm going to reopen the Lucky 38. You can be the casino floor manager, or maybe the bartender."

"We're getting more people in here? Good. I've always had a bad feeling about this place. With just the two of us in here I'm afraid to go wandering down some of the abandoned floors. I'm in."


End file.
